The present invention relates generally to methods for assessing control of a health characteristic and in particular to methods for assessing control of blood glucose.
It is known that the ability of a patient to control their blood glucose impacts other characteristics of their health. It is known for patient's to take blood glucose readings with a blood glucose meter and to monitor their blood glucose levels. Several software programs are available which communicate with the blood glucose meter and provide reports for the patient and doctor to analyze their blood glucose levels. Many patients test randomly and infrequently and therefore their blood glucose values do not provide an accurate and complete (time series) picture of their glycemic control. Patients may bring to their physician's office a completed logbook with no visualization, a blood glucose meter on which the physician may scroll through values with no visualization, or a blood glucose meter whose values are downloaded to a software application which generates reports.
Many caregivers continue to monitor the blood glucose of a patient by periodically taking a blood sample and having an HbA1c test performed which provides an indication of the patient's average blood glucose level. Therapy decisions by the caregiver are then based in part on the results of the HbA1c test. This is especially true in the case of non-insulin type 2 patients. Further, the patient may make lifestyle decisions based in part on the results of the HbA1c test.
A patient's average blood glucose level does not always provide an adequate snapshot of a patient's glycemic control. As explained herein, by conducting episodic monitoring for a short period of time more informed therapy and/or lifestyle decisions may be made. This not only provides a better standard of care for the patient, but also reduces the likelihood of future complications and expenses; thereby causing the patient to hopefully have a better quality of life.
In a exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an apparatus for tracking blood glucose values and lifestyle factors is provided. The apparatus including: a substrate having a front side including a plurality of regions for tracking blood glucose values and a second side including a portion having a plurality of instructions for using the plurality of regions for tracking blood glucose values. The substrate being foldable such that the portion having the plurality of instructions on the second side overlap a portion of the front side.
In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an apparatus for tracking blood glucose values and lifestyle factors is provided. The apparatus including: a substrate having a front side including a plurality of regions for tracking blood glucose values. The plurality of regions including a first region for recording an actual blood glucose value and a second region for placing a graphical marker indicating a selection of a first range of a plurality of ranges of blood glucose values. The plurality of ranges including at least one range below a target range, at least one target range, and at least one range above a target range.
In a further exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of assessing blood glucose levels is provided. The method including the steps of: receiving a blood glucose form over a network, the blood glucose form including a plurality of indicia related to a plurality of blood glucose readings; storing a plurality of database records based on the plurality of indicia related to the plurality of blood glucose readings; and providing at least one report based on the plurality of database records, the at least one report graphically representing at least a portion of the plurality of indicia related to the plurality of blood glucose readings.
In yet a further exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of assessing blood glucose levels is provided. The method including the steps of: providing a patient with a prescription for test strips for a blood glucose meter and a blood glucose form; receiving the blood glucose form from the patient, the blood glucose form including a plurality of indicia related to a plurality of blood glucose readings of the blood glucose meter; and receiving at least one report based on the plurality of indicia related to the plurality of blood glucose readings.
In still another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a system for tracking physiological information with a blood glucose meter is provided. The system including: a plurality of test strips for use with the blood glucose meter; and a blood glucose and lifestyle factors tracking apparatus for recording a plurality of blood glucose values determined by the blood glucose meter and corresponding lifestyle factors.
In yet another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of assessing blood glucose levels is provided. The method including the steps of providing a patient with a blood glucose and lifestyle factors tracking apparatus and receiving the blood glucose form from the patient. The blood glucose and lifestyle factors tracking apparatus including a first region for recording blood glucose values for at least a first fasting time period, a first preprandial time period, and a first postprandial time period for multiple consecutive days. The blood glucose and lifestyle factors tracking apparatus further including a second region for graphically representing the blood glucose values recorded in the first region. The second region being placed so that a first graphical marker in the second region corresponding to a first blood glucose value in the first region are aligned. The blood glucose and lifestyle factors tracking apparatus further including a third region for recording at least one lifestyle factor for each blood glucose value, the third region being positioned above the first region. The received blood glucose form including a plurality of manually recorded blood glucose values, a manually drawn graphical representation of the plurality of manually recorded blood glucose values; and a plurality of manually recorded indicia for the at least one lifestyle factor for each manually recorded blood glucose value.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.